Nanda Naidu from India was at UWC Red Cross Nordic from August 2010 to May 2012 (Finland House- 103) and took up a Davis Scholarship at Luther College, Iowa, USA.
Today we received the sad news that she died in a road accident a few days ago in India. The news seems even more heartbreaking as Nanda would have been celebrating her birthday on May 29th but for this tragic accident.
Nanda can be best described as an outdoor person and a promising academician. Perseverance and effort were her hallmark – on campus, swimming, orienteering, and low ropes excited her. She was highly passionate about celebrating Holi, watching Hindi films, Bollywood dancing and singing bhajans (Hindu devotional songs).
Reliable, organized and a good communicator, Nanda made a favourable impression on all. Finland House Room 103 was filled with her youthful laughter and playful antics – and she was a valued housemate and a loving person.
Her teachers at RCN always praised her simplicity, cheerfulness and curiosity. Vibeke L’Orsa Mortensen, the SOS Children’s Villages Coordinator in Oslo, described Nanda as ‘a very brave girl who showed tremendous courage and maturity when she faced unforeseen difficulties’.
As she wrote in her application to UWC, she was nurtured back in India ‘to be a full fresh fruit with a broad mind’ and that, on acceptance to a College, her personal motto would be her guiding star: ‘To reach the top as the opportunities approach me’.
There are countless memories we have of you and will cherish all of them! In this hour of grief the following lines of Emerson Ralph Waldo provide strength and hope.
“It is not length of life, but depth of life”
May God bless her soul.
Her brother Madesh Chenappa was in Denmark House and graduated from RCN in 2008 – we shall write to him and Nanda’s Selection Coordinator in India to express our collective condolences.
And here, some excerpts from the writings of Paramahansa Yogananda: Understanding Death and Loss.
Ashok Pratap Singh
Former Finland House Mentor
28th May 2015
There will be a short service of remembrance for Nanda in the Silent House at 1815 on 28th May 2015 which will be led by Ashok Pratap Singh
